The Eryops megacephalus also known as Eryops is an extinct genus of the order of Eryops in the family of Eryopidae which resembles closely to the modern day axolotl. They have been extinct for over 295 million years. The Eryop is about 5foot 6 and weights 200 pounds. The animal’s binomial name is Eryops megacephalus and is known as Eryop which means “drawn-out face” since its skull is in front of its head.
The Eryops were found in swamps of North America and Western Europe. They live in a humid environment with a temperature of about 38°C. The fossils of the Eryop was found in the Lower Permian age about 295 million years ago in Texas and also found in New Mexico and some parts of eastern United States.
They were swamp dwellers just like all amphibians, they had to live close to the water because their eggs have no shell just like all amphibians also and must be laid in really damp areas or in the water or else their eggs will be dried up and die. The eryops lived in the Permian period about 270 million years ago way back before even dinosaurs evolved.
The Eryop are a very vicious predator both on land and water, they are meat-eaters that eat mostly fish and reptiles. They would clutch its prey and because they couldn’t chew on what they were eating so they would put their heads up and backwards until the prey falls further deep into its mouth. This method of eating is similar to crocodiles and alligators.
Western europe- source http://www.wildlifeextra.com/images/belarus-swamp.JPG
Structure Adaptation 1-
A structural adaptation of the Eyrop is having special sense organs in their skin that can form a lateral line organ for perception of pressure and water flow this meant that they were able to feel the vibration of their prey and hunt them down in foggy weed filled water swamps and other areas, and are able to pick up water born sound coming from other creatures.
An environmental pressure that has caused the Eryop to be able to feel vibration from their prey through water flow was because of the foggy weather in the swamps causing them to have trouble to hunt down their prey’s also with their slow moving speed it will be a lot harder for them to chase their prey’s.
Structure Adaptation 2-
One structural adaptation of the Eryop is its gigantic mouth and its extremely strong jaw and sharp teeth. The Eryops had a lot of teeth that had a folded pattern and had enamel just like sharks which is the hardest and most mineralized substance known to human. Once their prey enters their vicious mouth it’s an instant death as the Eryop’s will just swallow them. The Eryop’s big mouth is designed to swallow their prey as it might be hard to snap something big underwater.
An environmental pressure leading to the development of the Eryop having extremely strong and hard teeth could have been because the Eryop was a slow moving species in both land and water (they had a short tail meaning that they are not powerful swimmers) thought they mainly hunted in the water, and without hard and sharp teeth they would have a much harder time hunting their prey’s since they could escape wounded as the Eryop are slow and if it didn’t have sharp teeth that would mean instant death.
Behavioral Adaptation 1-
The Eryops are stealth predators just like the modern crocodile. The only way of hunting their prey’s was to move really quietly and being patient in the water with only its eyes and nose being above the water until they were close enough to kill it without using much speed. This is because the Eryops were extremely slow and they use most of their energy to keep its body off the ground to walk.
Behavioral Adaptation 2-
A behavioral adaptation that the Eryop has is that they hunt their prey’s on land in jungles in the morning and in the swamps when its the evening and night. This is because the Eryop is able to camouflage in the jungles and its hard for them to hunt their prey’s in the swamps during the day as there is usually less fog and more brightness letting their sensing organs not be much use as other creatures will be able to see them coming and have time to escape.
The environmental pressure on the Eryop being able to hunt on land also is because early amphibians were able to move out and find another water hole when the water dries up. The Eryop is also an amphibian as they can move on both land and water.
Physiological Adaptation-
A physiological adaptation of the Eryop is that they breathe by inhaling air into their lungs and the oxygen is absorbed while the CO2 is released. Unlike most amphibians, Eryops are unable to properly breathe effectively through their thick skin and unlike amphibians the Eryops ribs were actually developed well but immobile which cause the ventilation to be terrible by expanding the body cavity. The eryop breathed using the method buccal pumping.
An environmental pressure on the Eryop being able to breathe with a different method than most amphibians is because the air is harder to breathe in the swamp since it’s a lot more damp and humid so they used a different way of breathing.
Extinction Pressure-
The most significant extinction pressure towards the Eryop was the Permian-Triassic e extinction event also known as the ‘Great Dying’ that occurred 251 million years ago. The extinction of the Eryop started off with environmental changes while later on volcanism occurred and sudden release of methane of methane hydrates from the sea floor, and changes of sea-level.
The Eryops megacephalus also known as Eryops is an extinct genus of the order of Eryops in the family of Eryopidae which resembles closely to the modern day axolotl. They have been extinct for over 295 million years. The Eryop is about 5foot 6 and weights 200 pounds. The animal’s binomial name is Eryops megacephalus and is known as Eryop which means “drawn-out face” since its skull is in front of its head.
Scientific Classification-
Figure 1: Labelled diagram of Erypo
Habitat-
The Eryops were found in swamps of North America and Western Europe. They live in a humid environment with a temperature of about 38°C. The fossils of the Eryop was found in the Lower Permian age about 295 million years ago in Texas and also found in New Mexico and some parts of eastern United States.
They were swamp dwellers just like all amphibians, they had to live close to the water because their eggs have no shell just like all amphibians also and must be laid in really damp areas or in the water or else their eggs will be dried up and die. The eryops lived in the Permian period about 270 million years ago way back before even dinosaurs evolved.
The Eryop are a very vicious predator both on land and water, they are meat-eaters that eat mostly fish and reptiles. They would clutch its prey and because they couldn’t chew on what they were eating so they would put their heads up and backwards until the prey falls further deep into its mouth. This method of eating is similar to crocodiles and alligators.
Structure Adaptation 1-
A structural adaptation of the Eyrop is having special sense organs in their skin that can form a lateral line organ for perception of pressure and water flow this meant that they were able to feel the vibration of their prey and hunt them down in foggy weed filled water swamps and other areas, and are able to pick up water born sound coming from other creatures.
An environmental pressure that has caused the Eryop to be able to feel vibration from their prey through water flow was because of the foggy weather in the swamps causing them to have trouble to hunt down their prey’s also with their slow moving speed it will be a lot harder for them to chase their prey’s.
Structure Adaptation 2-
One structural adaptation of the Eryop is its gigantic mouth and its extremely strong jaw and sharp teeth. The Eryops had a lot of teeth that had a folded pattern and had enamel just like sharks which is the hardest and most mineralized substance known to human. Once their prey enters their vicious mouth it’s an instant death as the Eryop’s will just swallow them. The Eryop’s big mouth is designed to swallow their prey as it might be hard to snap something big underwater.
An environmental pressure leading to the development of the Eryop having extremely strong and hard teeth could have been because the Eryop was a slow moving species in both land and water (they had a short tail meaning that they are not powerful swimmers) thought they mainly hunted in the water, and without hard and sharp teeth they would have a much harder time hunting their prey’s since they could escape wounded as the Eryop are slow and if it didn’t have sharp teeth that would mean instant death.
Behavioral Adaptation 1-
The Eryops are stealth predators just like the modern crocodile. The only way of hunting their prey’s was to move really quietly and being patient in the water with only its eyes and nose being above the water until they were close enough to kill it without using much speed. This is because the Eryops were extremely slow and they use most of their energy to keep its body off the ground to walk.
Behavioral Adaptation 2-
A behavioral adaptation that the Eryop has is that they hunt their prey’s on land in jungles in the morning and in the swamps when its the evening and night. This is because the Eryop is able to camouflage in the jungles and its hard for them to hunt their prey’s in the swamps during the day as there is usually less fog and more brightness letting their sensing organs not be much use as other creatures will be able to see them coming and have time to escape.
The environmental pressure on the Eryop being able to hunt on land also is because early amphibians were able to move out and find another water hole when the water dries up. The Eryop is also an amphibian as they can move on both land and water.
Physiological Adaptation-
A physiological adaptation of the Eryop is that they breathe by inhaling air into their lungs and the oxygen is absorbed while the CO2 is released. Unlike most amphibians, Eryops are unable to properly breathe effectively through their thick skin and unlike amphibians the Eryops ribs were actually developed well but immobile which cause the ventilation to be terrible by expanding the body cavity. The eryop breathed using the method buccal pumping.
An environmental pressure on the Eryop being able to breathe with a different method than most amphibians is because the air is harder to breathe in the swamp since it’s a lot more damp and humid so they used a different way of breathing.
Extinction Pressure-
The most significant extinction pressure towards the Eryop was the Permian-Triassic e extinction event also known as the ‘Great Dying’ that occurred 251 million years ago. The extinction of the Eryop started off with environmental changes while later on volcanism occurred and sudden release of methane of methane hydrates from the sea floor, and changes of sea-level.
Bibliography-
Eryops. (2010, May 29). Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryops
What is Eryops?. (n.d.). wiseGEEK. Retrieved July 16, 2010, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-eryops.htm